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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27682784">Version 10</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lost_stickie_note/pseuds/side_stickie_note'>side_stickie_note (lost_stickie_note)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>littlewonders [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NCT (Band), WAYV</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - After College/University, Alternate Universe - Robots &amp; Androids, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Fluff, Just a little bit of Angst, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates but subverted, android!Ten, human!Kun</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 01:15:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,000</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27682784</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lost_stickie_note/pseuds/side_stickie_note</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>His friends decide the solution to his soulmate-less problem is to get him an android, and Kun is less than amused.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Qian Kun</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>littlewonders [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2049186</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>109</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Challenge #3 — soulmates</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Version 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Would just like to start off by saying that phew soulmate AUs are not my forte, but I was excited to put together this little idea, so I just ran with it. First time writing for this pairing and NCT/WayV, and I'm just over the moon. Thank you to the mods for putting this challenge together--it was a great way to dip my toes in. :)</p><p>I actually had to *snip snip* a lot of things I wanted to include, and I'm probably going to expand this AU later on because I have fallen in love with it. *-*</p><p>Thank you to my long time beta who's managed to stick with me through thick and thin. ily, truly. ♡♡ Special thanks to R for putting up with me and giving me help, hehe.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kun is greeted by an uncharacteristic silence as he returns to the apartment, accustomed to being greeted noisily, but quickly recognizing Ten’s small sleeping figure curled up at the corner of the couch. He sighs, spotting the kink in the cord trailing from the power outlet to where it sneaks under the well-worn oversized t-shirt Ten is wearing, one that is surely Kun’s.</p><p>He wonders briefly where Ten had found it, the shirt dwarfing Ten more than usual, Kun under the impression that all his old things had been packed safely away. And his fingers are itching to undo the kinks in the cord, urge only tempered by his desire not to wake Ten up, the small numbers behind Ten’s ear glowing a soft green. Ninety-five percent, nearly fully charged.</p><p>Kun smiles fondly at Ten, the very picture of peace, his knees tucked up slightly into his chest, a far cry from his usual chaos.</p><p>It becomes apparent when Kun walks into his bedroom to change where Ten had gotten his shirt from, half his closet upended on his bed, clothes scattered on the ground. It takes him a moment to at least sweep everything on his bed off to the side, too tired to tidy up the clutter now, opting instead to start dinner. Ten would help him clean up later anyways, if he asks.</p><p>He quickly knots his favorite apron at the back before turning on the stove, the joke gift from Xiaojun for his birthday last year leaving Ten in tears of laughter as Kun had opened it, big blocky white lettering spelling out ‘best cook ever’ with the word ‘cock’ crossed out in red. Idiotic, but apparently a good present nevertheless, Kun still using it half a year later.</p><p>“Mmm, smells good.”</p><p>Kun attempts to bat Ten’s hand away, but fails, Ten dipping his finger into the sauce, giving a loud suck followed by a hum of approval.</p><p>“Tastes good too.”</p><p>He rolls his eyes. “You couldn’t wait five minutes?”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“Brat.”</p><p>Eight minutes later, and Kun is watching amusedly as Ten shovels food into his mouth as if he’s been starved of sustenance for a week, chiding Ten to eat slower.</p><p>“This tastes fucking amazing.”</p><p>“You say that about everything I make.”</p><p>He tries not to feel overly pleased at the compliment.</p><p>“That’s because everything you make is fucking amazing.” Ten chews vigorously. “Better than anything we get in restaurants, really.”</p><p>Kun rolls his eyes.</p><p>“Wait, you have something—” And Kun tenses as Ten nonchalantly brushes his thumb over the corner of his mouth and licks his finger clean. Kun isn’t sure if Ten notices him flush, the heat rising in his cheeks, but if he does, he doesn’t let on.</p><p>Kun wonders if Ten really means it, that his food tastes good, or whether Ten is just saying things to flatter him, Kun having been skeptical the first time Ten had said it. To which Ten had declared that just because he was an android, it didn’t mean he didn’t have perfectly valid taste buds.</p><p>He sneaks a glance at Ten, who’s sprawled on his bed stomach down in post-meal bliss, fiddling with the stylus on Kun's tablet, biting his lower lip in concentration. Ten had recently gotten into drawing, and Kun had been pleased to see Ten's complaints of being bored dwindle somewhat the last few months.</p><p>"So, is there a reason you destroyed my room today?" Kun waves his hand to catch Ten's attention. "Pass me that please." Ten throws the button-down shirt to him so Kun can hang it up again. "You <em>do </em>have a perfectly serviceable closet if I remember correctly. And I would know because I bought it for you."</p><p>Kun chooses not to add on the fact that Ten's closet is perhaps even more expansive than his own, Kun apparently lacking the ability to say ‘no’ each time Ten wants any new clothes as they pass by stores with pretty displays. <em>It would look good on me. </em>Kun admits that it always does, which only serves to soothe his ego but not his wallet.</p><p>Ten gives him a measured look for just a moment before shrugging, replying simply.</p><p>"I just like the way your clothes feel."</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Ten had been an unwelcome gift.</p><p>It had taken Kun several moments to process exactly what he had been handed, the card shoved into his hand immediately after he had blown out the candles on his birthday cake. He had meant to say ‘what the fuck is this?’ but instead the only thing that had come out was a shortened dumbfounded ‘what’.</p><p>And to his great consternation, Hendery and Yangyang had launched into a whole spiel about how Kun was now a whopping <em>thirty </em>and old, how they had been practically <em>begging </em>Kun to put himself out there the last few years even if he hadn’t found his soulmate yet which in no way meant he shouldn’t at least date, and if he wouldn’t take it upon himself to ensure he wouldn’t die alone and sad, then it was their responsibility as his friends to make sure he didn’t.</p><p>He had sat there at a loss for words while giving Sicheng and Yukhei a look as if to say why-didn’t-you-stop-this-you-two-should-know-better, Sicheng looking faintly embarrassed. One, Kun had been nimbly avoiding every blind date Yangyang and Hendery had been trying to set up for him with a handful of perfectly crafted excuses, no doubt certain that anyone they had approved would likely be crazy, insane, or both. Two, thirty was <em>not </em>old, thank you very much. And three, that alone wasn’t the same as lonely, and Kun was perfectly fine with being the former and was in no way the latter.</p><p>Apparently, the solution had been to purchase Kun a companion android for his birthday.</p><p>It had been a nonrefundable purchase.</p><p>The first week, the box had just sat in his living room, glaring and accusatory, the package daunting as it was as big as him. Which in hindsight, Kun supposes makes sense considering what it had contained. On the ninth day, Kun had finally decided that it made no sense to not at least take a look.</p><p>The first thing it had said upon powering on, blinking almost humanly, had been simple.</p><p>“What would you like to refer to me as?”</p><p>Kun had glanced around the room, panicked, not expecting to be <em>interrogated </em>quite so soon, and his eyes had fallen on the words running up the side of the now-empty box—Companion4U v10.</p><p>A hasty decision.</p><p>“Ten. How does that sound?”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Kun hears the sound of the piano, notes vaguely filtering into his sleep-fogged mind as he rouses from his nap, having completely passed out as soon as he had gotten back from work, his day too long. They had been short-staffed, one member of his team out sick, another on maternity leave, and there had been an absolutely miserable meeting with a long-standing client, requiring Kun to pick up the pieces.</p><p>Ten doesn’t look up when Kun enters, continuing to tap at the keys.</p><p>“What, are you going to learn how to play the piano too?” Only half-jokingly. He wouldn’t be surprised if Ten did—armed with an insatiable curiosity, it seemed to Kun that Ten could pick up anything he put his mind to.</p><p>Ten shakes his head. “No, I was just wondering why you have the piano. You never play it.”</p><p>“I used to.” Kun motions at Ten to move over, nudging at his hip. “And it was too much of a hassle to find someone to sell it to and too unbearable to just throw away. So it stayed.”</p><p>The keys feel familiar and pliant against the pads of his fingers, natural to the touch.</p><p>“Play me something.”</p><p>“What do you want to hear?”</p><p>“Anything, you pick.”</p><p>Kun thinks for a moment before starting, the melody slowly coming to him, the beginning of Jay Chou’s 告白气球 teasing the air, and after a few more bars, Kun hears Ten join in, singing softly over his playing. He doesn’t say anything until the end, turning to catch Ten staring at him, smiling abashedly.</p><p>“I didn’t know you knew the song.”</p><p>“I’ve heard you humming it before, so I looked it up.” Ten smiles slyly. “And it’s not the only thing I looked up.” For the first time, Kun notices the open photo albums atop the piano. “You were a cute child.” Ten grins at him. “Chubby cheeks.”</p><p>And Kun groans as Ten follows him around the rest of the night, affectionately calling him <em>bao zi</em>.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>“Hurry up, or we’re going to be late.”</p><p>“Relax, we have plenty of time.” Ten shoots him a winning smile, grabbing his leather jacket to throw over his ratty t-shirt.</p><p>They are late.</p><p>Everyone is at the restaurant already, an unfamiliar boy standing next to Sicheng who everyone else has already been introduced to save for Kun and Ten. “Kun, Ten, this is Yuta. Yuta, Kun and Ten.” Sicheng points out helpfully, and Ten ignores Yuta’s handshake in favor of a hug, the other boy visibly startled.</p><p>“Hi, nice to meet you.” Kun rolls his eyes as Ten takes his seat at the table. “Don’t mind him.”</p><p>And Kun opts for the polite thing to do, taking Yuta’s hand.</p><p>Only to see the blossoming of what seems to be a bruise at the base of his thumb and index finger that quickly manifests itself into a not-so-bruise in the form of a tiny lotus.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Kun can <em>feel </em>Ten’s gaze on him, two seats over, the certainty prickling across his skin like an itch, and for the third time in the past hour, Kun pulls down his sleeve slightly before using his chopsticks. Yuta hadn’t given any sign that he was inclined to say anything, and for that, Kun is thankful, strongly hoping just to make it through lunch without having to answer any prying questions.</p><p>“There’s something wrong with you.” Ten announces, pointing accusingly at Kun from across the table. “You’re acting funny, been acting funny since we got here.”</p><p>“No, I haven’t.” Kun tries not to look at Ten while he’s talking, gaze sliding over to Yuta who’s sitting next to Ten instead, who seems to be utterly unphased by the appearance of his soulmate mark.</p><p>But Ten is either too attuned to him or Kun is just a fool.</p><p>Either way, it takes Ten less than ten minutes to realize he’s attempting to hide his hand, one minute to force Kun to show him, and ten seconds for the entire table to realize what’s going on, six pairs of eyes trained intensely on him.</p><p>“Oh my god.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>It’s with a lot of push from everyone that Kun ends up with Yuta’s number, the two of them making plans to meet up later in the week. To get to know each other, Yuta says, as if it’s no big deal when it should be a very Big Deal™. And Kun feels slightly drained after arriving home, Ten tiptoeing around him as if he might fall apart at any second.</p><p>“Ten, you can just come in you know.”</p><p>Kun sighs, looking up from his book, not missing Ten walking by his study for the third time in the last twenty minutes.</p><p>Ten peers at him, worry written into his features.</p><p>“Are you okay?”</p><p>“Why would I not be okay?”</p><p>“He’s your—” Ten hesitates. “—soulmate. Yukhei told me last year that you’d probably not meet yours if you hadn’t by this age.”</p><p>“Yeah.” Kun sighs. “I know.”</p><p>Another pause.</p><p>“Do you want to be with him?”</p><p>“I’m not sure.” Kun admits. “I hardly know anything about him.”</p><p>Ten doesn’t respond.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Yuta is easy.</p><p>To get along with, Kun means.</p><p>It turns out it’s only by a stroke of bad luck that Kun hadn’t met his soulmate sooner, the other boy deciding to go abroad for a while, having returned recently. <em>For what? Nothing in particular, just living life. </em>He likes watermelon, hates the rain, plays football for fun, and has more piercings in his ear than Kun can count on one hand, the silver glittering like little stars, the dangling ones swinging back and forth mesmerizingly as he talks.</p><p>Yuta is warm, comfortable, like sipping a cup of hot tea on a cold day, and Kun is halfway disappointed that he can’t find anything wrong with him by the end of it all.</p><p>“How was your date?”</p><p>Ten doesn’t wait to ask, immediately accosting him as he walks through the door.</p><p>“Can’t you wait until I at least get my shoes off?” Kun grumbles. “It went perfectly fine. He’s nice.”</p><p>“Well, do you like him?”</p><p>Kun sighs somewhat at Ten’s insistent tone, simply repeating himself.</p><p>“He’s nice.”</p><p><strong>Nakamoto Yuta</strong><br/>
It was nice meeting you<br/>
I’m open to giving it a shot if you want to<br/>
Dating and all<br/>
But no pressure<br/>
Just lmk</p><p>Kun leaves him on read, unsure of what to say.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>“Stop it, I’m not done.” Kun shoos Xiaojun out. “Go do something else.”</p><p>Xiaojun pouts at him but doesn’t argue.</p><p>Kun sighs and tries to concentrate on cooking, focusing on acting as if everything is normal. Everyone is gathered at his place, their monthly get together in full force, and Kun is silently thankful that Sicheng had the foresight to ask first in their group chat before someone (eg Yangyang) invited Yuta without Kun knowing.</p><p>It’s been two weeks since their lunch, and Kun has chosen to be a coward, not responding to Yuta’s message since, blithely using the excuse of work whenever Ten brought up the subject. To Ten’s credit, he had eventually stopped asking when it became apparent Kun wasn’t going to give out any good answers.</p><p>Kun steals a glance at Ten, a bit worried. Recently, Ten had become a bit quiet, too quiet, but each time Kun had asked what was wrong, he had only been met with <em>Nothing’s wrong </em>and a forced smile. Thankfully, Ten looks fine now, a happy glow lighting his face as he talks animatedly with Yangyang, wine in hand.</p><p>Kun watches, frozen, not quite registering what’s happening, the slow descent of the wine glass hitting the carpet, a light thump, spilling.</p><p>And Ten follows.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>“What’s wrong with him?”</p><p>Johnny gives him a sympathetic look, closing the bedroom door to where Ten is sleeping in his bed. The first person Kun had called was Jaehyun, the only person he knows who works in technology, the other boy laughing because <em>I work in sales, Kun</em> but who also helpfully sends him Johnny’s number. <em>An IT guy I know.</em></p><p>Kun is thankful that Johnny considers it a favor and comes over quickly.</p><p>And he spends an hour unsuccessfully trying to get the red wine stain out of his carpet as Johnny runs diagnostic tests on Ten, whatever that means, and attempting not to cry out of frustration.</p><p>“There’s nothing wrong with him.”</p><p>Kun stares at Johnny blankly.</p><p>“Okay.” Johnny looks as if he’s choosing his words carefully. “There’s nothing wrong with his software I mean. He likely just got stressed.”</p><p>“Stressed?” Kun echoes back, feeling slightly stupid for not following.</p><p>“Yeah. So, you know how he usually needs to recharge weekly right? To keep his core running? That recharge is enough to get him through the week only if he’s running at peak performance levels.” Johnny pauses. “That being said, if there’s anything that requires Ten to think more, do more, etc. he’ll end up expending more energy. Just like any human. When does he usually recharge?”</p><p>“Uhh, Mondays.”</p><p>Johnny nods. “What’s today? Sunday night? Yeah, he just ran out of juice so to speak, a bit earlier than he should have.” Another pause. “Has there been anything stressful going on lately?”</p><p>Kun frowns. “I mean, not that I can think of. He stays at home and does what he likes usually. And he hasn’t mentioned anything.”</p><p>Johnny looks at him apologetically. “Not to be forward, but, uh...are you two having relationship problems? Any changes?”</p><p>And Kun is about to say <em>It’s not like that</em> when it dawns on him.</p><p>“Yeah, there’s been some changes.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>“Kun?”</p><p>Kun starts as Ten opens his eyes, blinking up at him owlishly. “Yeah, I’m here. You’re safe.” He smooths out the hair falling over Ten’s forehead. “I had you checked out, nothing’s wrong.” Kun pauses. “Johnny said you’re just stressed, and your systems just burned out before your recharge.”</p><p>“Do you want to talk about it?”</p><p>Kun waits.</p><p>The confession comes in a whisper.</p><p>“I don’t want you to be with Yuta.”</p><p>“I know, Ten. I know.”</p><p>Kun discovers that Ten hiccups when he cries too hard.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>“I want a kiss.” There’s a stubborn set to Ten’s mouth even as Kun refuses, chuckling lightly. “You’re sick Ten. You need rest, not a kiss.”</p><p>“What do you mean?” Ten bats his eyes at Kun innocently. “I’m an android, we don’t get sick.”</p><p>Kun gives in, like he knows he will, reluctantly. “One kiss.”</p><p>One turns into two, which turns into three, or maybe four. Kun loses count, just knowing that he’s left breathless by the end. “Greedy little bastard.” And he says it with all the fondness he can muster. Ten just grins, and Kun lets Ten take him by the hand and pull him into bed to sleep, Kun listening to the quiet hum of Ten’s heart as he drifts off.</p><p>It’s nearly light when Kun wakes, carefully untangling his limbs from Ten’s, making sure not to wake him as he leaves, grabbing his phone from its charger and finding his way to the kitchen.</p><p>The first message he writes out is shit, and so is the second. Kun isn’t satisfied with the third either, and he ends up deleting everything except for the first sentence, the only one that really matters anyways, hitting send.</p><p><strong>Qian Kun</strong><br/>
I’m sorry, but I’m already in love with someone.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>🤖💗</p><p>Jay Chou's 告白气球 = Love Confession; for those that may want to find it.<br/>Bao zi = Chinese steamed buns</p><p>Comments, kudos, and feedback appreciated! ♡</p><p><a href="https://twitter.com/sidestickienote">twt</a> | <a href="https://curiouscat.qa/sidestickienote">cc</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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